Railway-signal



(No Model.) 2 Sheets--Sheet 1. J. A. PAUL.

Railway Signal No. 233,367. Patented Oct. 19,1880.

-=Jf I m WITNESSE w ATTORNEYS ".PETERS, FHOTO-LITHOGRAPMER, WASHINGTON. D C

{No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet'2.

, J. A. PAUL.

Railway Signal.

No. 233,367. Patented Oct. 19,1880.

N. PETERS, PNOTD'LITHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON. 0 C,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. PAUL, OF HUNTINGDON, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 233,367, dated October 19, 1880.

Application filed March 6, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom at may concern Be it known that I, JOHN A.PAUL, of Hun tingdon, in the county of Huntingdon and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Signals; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, makinga part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure l of the drawings is a representation of a part of a side View of my railwaysignal. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same, and Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views of the same. Fig. 5 illustrates the signal apparatus connected with a transmitter.

My present invention relates to railway-signal apparatus; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of parts, as herein fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, A designates one of the rails of a railway. B is an extended sleeper, upon which are secured the bearings G for a shaft, D. Upon one end of the shaft D is an arm, E, which is arranged alongside of the rail, so that the wheels of a train will, in passing by, strike the arm E and depress it, thereby vibrating the shaft to which said arm is secured. To the other end'of the shaft D is secured a disk, F, having upon one of its faces bolts or pins G, which work in the slots H of levers I. These levers I are pivoted at their upper ends to a nut or block, K, which is ar ranged to work up and down upon a spirallyformed part, L, of a vertical shaft, M. This shaft M is stepped at its lower end into a hearing, N, andit passes up through the top plate, 0, of a pyramidal frame, P. Upon the upper extremity of the said shaft is a lantern, Q, with radiating arms or boards It, these boards bein g colored according to some arbitrary signal system.

To the plate 0 are secured bearin gs S for a lever, T, one arm of which extends upward, so as to engage with a notched plate at the base of the lantern, while its remaining arm extends horizontally under the plate 0 and carries upon its extremity an armature, U, which vibrates with the lever, so as to close upon an electro-magnet, V.

The plate at the base of the lantern is indicated by the letter W, and its notched portion by the letter W.

The operation is as follows: A transmitter is arranged alongside of the track at some distance from the apparatus just described, and provided with a horizontal shaft having an arm alongside of the rail similarly to the device just described. A train in passing along the road actuates this transmitter by reason of its wheels passing over the arm of the horizontal rock-shaft. This establishes connection between the transmitter and the magnet of the present apparatus. The circuit being established, the armature U will be drawn upon the magnet, thus moving the lever T, so that its upright arm will be thrown away from the notched plate at the base of the lantern. This leaves the lantern free to rotate, and if the nut or block upon the spiral portion of the vertical shaft has been pushed up by reason of the action of the wheels of a previouslypassing train upon the arm E, the weight of the block and the bars' which connect it with the disk will cause said block or nut to descend and thereby rotate the vertical shaft. This movement of the vertical shaft brings the lantern into position to indicate that a train is approaching.

During the day-time the radial arms upon the lantern will serve for signals, and during the night the lantern will subserve the same purpose, it being provided with tdift'erent-colored glasses, a a, so as to give the required variety of signals.

As a train passes by the present apparatus its wheels strike againstthe arm E, and thus cause a vibration of the horizontal shaft and disk. The disk, in turn, raises the lever-bars I, which connect with thevertically-movin g nut or block K, and this causes a partial rotation of the vertical shaft M, so as to bring the notch of the plate at the base of the lantern into position for engagement with the lever T. In this position the light of the lantern or one of the signal-arms upon the lantern will indicate that a train has passed. The next approaching train will actuate the transmitter, and the lever be again disengaged from the notched plate of the lantern, so that the lantern will be free to turn round and thus change the signal.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of the rock-shaft D, with its arm E, in a railway-signal apparatus, with the disk F upon one end of the said rock-shaft, the lever-bars I, actuated by the disk, the nut or block K, and the vertical shaft M, carrying a signal device and formed with a spiral, upon which the nut K has avertical movement, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of the magnet V, in a railway-signal apparatus, with the vibrating lever T, carrying an armature for the magnet, the notched plate W, the vertical shaft M, carrying a signal device, and the nut K, having a vertical movement upon a spirally-formed part of the said vertical shaft, substantially as set forth.

3. Thecombination of the rock-shaft I), hav' ing an arm, E, arranged alongside of one of the rails of a. railwaytrack, with the disk F upon one end of the rock-shaft, the pins G upon the disk, the lever-bars I, with slots for the reception of the said pins, the vertical shaft having a spirally-formed portion, a nut arranged upon said spirally-formed portion and connected with the lever-bars I, the vibratory lever T, carrying the armature of an electro-magnet, the notched plate W upon the upper end of the vertical shaft, and a lantern with signal arms or boardssecured upon said notched plate, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

7 JOHN A. PAUL. \Vitnesses J N0. M. TrM, J. HALL MUSSER. 

